My actual FCC says:

"Future Cruise Credits are per person, per booking, and valid only for the person noted above." This seems to contradict the website, right?

That's what I thought, too, but one of the FAQs under FCCs on the Royal website says this, which is why I'm not sure:

Hi all,

The Royal website kind of answers this question, but given all of the confusion around FCCs, I thought I'd ask my favorite RC experts (aka all of you). I just got my FCC from my canceled August cruise. They broke it down into equal amounts per passenger (four of us, including two kids). It says on the certificate that the amount can only be applied to the named passenger, but on the RC website it says that if the same people are cruising, you can use some of the funds to cover other passengers' fares. Here are the numbers to make my questions clearer:

We each got $1403 in FCC

My kids' fares for our rescheduled March 2022 cruise are 973 each.

Our two adult fares for our rescheduled March 2022 cruise are more than 1403 each.

Since it's the exact same four people from the canceled August cruise going on the rescheduled March 2022 cruise, can I apply the $860 in FCC left over from my kids' certificates to my fare and/or to my husband's? I would like to use the total FCC amount on this cruise and not have another FCC to use after that. The RC website seems to say yes, but the certificate itself seems to say no. Help!

This is great - thank you! I feel famous now that you answered my question.

Is there a pattern to when the best deals on RC are typically available? Either cruise price or cruise planner options. 

What are the best-kept secrets on a given class of ships (things people in the know seek out but newbies would typically miss)?

24 minutes ago, sk8erguy1978 said:

This just popped into my head...I know sometimes it's difficult to leave the bed when your stomach feels upside down, but what helps my wife (she is known to get sick day one as she adjusts) is to get to mid-ship & lower deck. One example was the Schooner Bar on Explorer, it was a great place for her to have a ginger ale and relax a bit and she started to feel better; mind you that was after being in bed for a few hours having taken the meds, ate toast, etc, etc.

This is great advice - thank you so much!

8 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Actually I someone told me before that when they sailed Star on Oasis, they got sick (motion) and their genie found out and she went out of her way to help her feel better, ginger, apples, meds, all sorts of remedies lol. So it’s not too far fetched to call the genie

So exciting for trying Star. It is wonderful. And the lofts at the back of Anthem have fantastic views.

We are so psyched! This is our third attempt at our first RC cruise. We've gone from junior suite on Anthem to Aqua Theatre 1 bedroom on Oasis up to Anthem GLS in the process, lol. I keep saying, "well we're already in this much... and we have so many months to pay it off..." All out of Bayonne, though, to avoid having to fly as well. I will put something in my genie survey about having seasickness remedies ready to go. I read something about the spa doing motion sickness acupuncture, which sounds cool. 

6 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

As @twangster always says, and he can word it better than me, but motion varies depending on so many factors that it is hard to predict based on someone else's experience.  That being said, my daughter and I are both really sensitive to motion.  We sailed Anthem out of Bayonne twice.  Once was in March, the other time in July.  Both times we had a JS that was mid ship. There was considerably more motion in March than there was in July.  March sailing we had to take our meds for motion.  July we did not.  I also feel like Anthem is not as steady as Oasis class.  But I do not know enough about the way ships are built to back that up lol.

I was reading your live blog from the March trip and getting queasy just thinking about it, lol. I will be medicated up the wazoo for the first couple of days. We're in the GLS all the way aft, so I'm worried about that as well. Mind over matter - there's no barfing in star class! 

3 minutes ago, sk8erguy1978 said:

When did your friend sail? Was it one of the times the captain took her through a major storm that hit all the news stations? Because that's rare. Now with James Van Fleet monitoring all weather all the time, you'll be fine.

I'm honestly not sure when she sailed, but she didn't mention a storm so I think she just felt like it was super choppy compared to other ports she's sailed from. I will definitely avoid any rum punch until we are well on our way south!

I've seen a lot of folks here mention motion sickness when sailing out of Bayonne. We are booked on Anthem out of Bayonne in March 2022 and my friend warned me that her sail from there was the roughest she's ever experienced. I'm getting a litle nervous, though there's not much I can do about it. I tend toward motion sickness and always wear a patch on a cruise, but i did get a bit sick on our last Disney Cruise out of Port Canaveral in March 2019. Is it really, really rough? How long does that tend to last? Thanks for sharing your experiences, especially if you have a queasy tummy like me! We're trying star class, so maybe I'll just ask my genie to take my nausea away for me, lol.

Beware also: My phone is giving me different prices than my desktop! I've just priced my cruise three times in the last five minutes and gotten 3 different prices. I called RC and they confirmed the middle one, which is the same as the price it was yesterday. When I called the rep got locked out of the system momentarily, so I'm guessing there's something glitchy going on.

Should we assume 30-45 days from when the ship was supposed to sail or from when RC canceled?

I saved $67 today - hey, every bit counts. I'm hoping to see some more drops by 2022, but we shall see. 

Thanks for all of the advice, @AshleyDillo, @WAAAYTOOO, and @CGTLH! I switched to 10724. I am trying to convince my best friend and her family to book 10324, lol. She lives in SC so it's crazy for her to come up to NJ to cruise, but this whole world is crazy, so... we'll see!

We’re booked in 8724, but 10724 is also available. Any thoughts on which one is better? Is the noise really a problem in 8724? I know @WAAAYTOOO mentioned liking 8724 but @jaullram mentioned noise? Thanks in advance for any advice!

After all that my husband decided he really wanted this to be just us on the cruise. Still going to ask for the rollaway bed, though, to keep my kids from fighting all night! Now to wait out 634 more days...

4 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Well then I would say go for it!  As long as whoever gets the cot can handle it for the duration of the cruise.  It's actually fine.  When we travel with our two kids, we always ask for a cot and the kids don't mind it.  Although they did say the star class cot was better than the non-SC ones.  Not sure if that is true.  That was coming from a 10 year old lol.  Or if you ask @CGTLH, he will tell you that no cot is tolerable, SC or not. lol

I can't believe we're spoiling our kids with star class on their first RC cruise - I don't want to hear any complaining about cots, LOL! Let's be honest, I'm really spoiling myself and giving myself something to look forward to in all of this madness. And anything seems like less money when you break down the payments over 22 months!  "Only" 635 days til we sail... 

48 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I was only leery when I read your initial post because lately, most of the phone agents do not know what they are talking about, and they know even less about Star Class.

So I just called back and a second person confirmed that my grand loft suite has the capacity for 5. This is so weird! 

5 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Before you proceed any further, make sure that you get the verified.  Usually, they will not allow you to book beyond the max capacity of the cabin unless it is for small child who can sleep in a pack and play.

I'm a little nervous about this, too - it seemed weird that they suddenly were offering that. That's why I was wondering if anyone else had done 5 in a GLS. I'm finding a lot of my communications with RC a bit confusing!

19 minutes ago, CGTLH said:

Give an idea of couch and rollaway in 10724 on Anthem...

Thank you so much! This is really helpful. That doesn't look too crunched.

 

 

9 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

We have done 4..2 parents and 2 adult children.  They use a single rollaway bed and the pull-out couch is a shared double bed.  As long as you have 2 that could handle being on the pull-out couch together I think you'd be fine.  

As for pricing, unless you did a Kids Sail Free promo, the additional cost will be what the cost of the 3rd passenger was to add someone.

Yes, they quoted me 30 percent off of the 3rd/4th passenger price, so not a huge amount in the grand scheme of an already crazy expensive vacation! Plus she’d pay her part of the fare. 

6 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

There have always just been the 2 of us...but we have stayed in 2 different GLS on Anthem.

Is it possible ?  Yes.  Would it be comfortable ?  Maybe.  There is 1 double sofabed that would probably accommodate your friend and that would mean the kids would have rollaways.  If they are ok with that, it should work.

If you are in 8724 or 8324, I think you would have plenty of room.  If you are in one of the corner GLS I'm not sure.

We’re in 8724. Would they allow two rollaways? 

I booked a grand loft suite for me, my husband, and my two kids (12 and 7 at time of sailing). While I was dealing with other stuff on the phone with RC today, I asked about the price difference up to royal loft suite because we really wanted to invite our dear friend who’s like an aunt to the kids. When I heard the price I said, ok, never mind! But then the person at RC told me I could add a fifth person to our grand loft suite for only a small additional cost. We know it would mean bed sharing and a rollaway bed for one of my kids. We have all shared a hotel room before (contemporary resort at Disney) and were fine. Does anyone have experience with five in a GLS? Any thoughts of potential issues I’m not thinking about? thanks in advance!

3 hours ago, Matt said:

Generally, if you applied a FCC and then the cruise got cancelled, the old FCC gets reissued and I think the use date gets updated.

My advice is you have to reach out to RC again (fourth time is the charm!) to get an answer to your situation that is crystal-clear and ideally in writing somehow so you can prove it later.

Thanks so much!  Looking forward to another round with the call center